The Pittsburgh Steelers love having brothers on their roster. Over the years, they have had numerous sets and currently have two in Cameron Heyward and Connor Heyward, and Nick Herbig and Nate Herbig. Brothers are not unusual in the NFL. For one, the genetics are good and there is the exposure to life in the NFL along the commitment it takes. Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt has spoken multiple times about how helpful it was to see his older brother J.J. Watt pave the way into the pros. Now, one set of brothers is making headlines for publicly complaining and Steelers' Cameron Heyward said he thinks he made a big mistake.
During a recent Monday Night Football game, the Buffalo Bills lost to the Denver Broncos 24-22. It was a game in which the Bills were 7.5-point favorites to win, so the loss was particularly painful. To add insult to injury, the Bills had a shot to win and lost as the result of a careless error and four turnovers.
One player who was noticeably absent during the loss was Bills star wide receiver, Stefon Diggs. He had only three catches for 34 yards in the loss. His brother, Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs, was not too happy after the game and took to Twitter/X to voice his concerns.
"Man 14 Gotta get up outta there."
The use of 14 is a reference to his brother Stefon who wears number 14. Quarterback Josh Allen acknowledged that the team shouldn't have been in the position for the penalty to matter in the first place. He said there was a lot of "bad football." Apparently, Trevon agreed that Allen bore the brunt of the responsibility because he took a shot at him in a second tweet.
"Let's not forget, he didn't start going off till bro got there."
It's not just Trevon. Stefon has also shown frustration over the Bills' performance. The Bills are currently 5-5 and not doing as well as anyone projected. That's no excuse according to Heyward. Heyward said on a recent episode of his podcast, Not Just Football With Cam Heyward, that you just can't go running your mouth on social media, not even to defend your brother.
"First of all, as having another brother in the league and having other brothers who watch, I always take in account that we play for the team, don't say too much. You know we have to respect where we are. There is no trade deadline happening. What? You want your brother to get cut? That's just not feasible right now so understanding that you gotta be very on the fence and you don't want to mess with anything he's got going on," chided Heyward.
Steelers' Cameron Heyward And Trevon Diggs Agree On One Thing
The extra man gaffe wasn't the Bills' only mistake of the night. Allen had three turnovers: a fumble and two interceptions. In addition, running back James Cook fumbled twice, but only lost one of them. It's hard to win with four turnovers. As mentioned, Trevon put the majority of the blame at Allen's feet. Heyward doesn't disagree with that.
"You're searching for ways to not turn over the ball as much and have more success, and a lot of that just falls on your quarterback. Whether it's right or not, I don't know."
This isn't the first snafu between Stefon and the Bills. When the Bills lost to the Cincinnati Bengals last postseason, Stefon was noticeably angry and frustrated. He allowed that frustration to carry over into the offseason and was absent for a chunk of the Bills' mandatory minicamp. He reportedly expected to have a bigger role in the Bills offense.
While no one wants to lose a game, Heyward pointed out that it is just part of playing football. He added that you always want to see your players show passion and care if they win or lose.
What the Diggs brothers are doing isn't doing Stefon any favors. He doesn't want to become toxic to the organization because frankly, no one is expendable. He needs to work with Allen to become a part of the solution and to help the Bills get their season back on track.
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